How Everything Went Wrong(Worm CYOASI)
by Masterlink63
Summary: An SI is dumped into the usual setting of Worm. However, things don't always go well...
1. 1:1

1.1

The first thing I notice about my bed is that it's warm. Almost uncomfortably so. It can't be the cat….what happened to my pillows? Did they fall off the bed again? I swear, wait. I sit up and open my eyes. I'm….. in a desert? Oh! I'm dreaming? But why in the name of God am I in a desert? Well, it's hot, hotter than I ever remember feeling in a dream. What am I wearing? Professor Zoom's(Or is it just Zoom?) outfit? Am I a Speedster?... Oh hell yes.

Last time I had Super Speed in a dream I ended up slipping all over the place, like the world's worst slip n slide. Let's not do that now. So how do I shot web? I focus and the world turns blue. Um, okay. I step forward. Nothing seem's to have happened... I think maybe I moved a bit faster than usual? If I'm experiencing things at an accelerated perception, than that would mean that I shouldn't be seeing anything different…..Oh! I bend down and grab a handful of sand. Okay… I throw it in the air, and yep it's falling slower. It isn't like time is at a standstill.

While that's disappointing, I think that rules out Zolomon-Zoom. I think Zolomon could out right stop time, or at least close. Then again, at the speed of light, the difference shouldn't matter right? Am I in the Tv show, then? It'd make sense, the characters are almost laughably slower than in the comics. I mean, really? Mach 2 lets you travel back in time? Oh, the sand just hit the ground! Well, I'm slower than should be, so I'll chalk it up to being in a dream. I've never really been fast in a dream. I kick the sand, and watch it shoot off at an almost normal speed, which probably means it's like a blur to a regular , until I wake up, I might as well try to do something. Fight the Flash I guess. Wait, I'm still 17, so am I Kid Flash? Re-Inspection shows the outfit is lacking red pants, so...no then? I'm still too young. Ah, well, meeting the flash will be enough I guess. So, Which way to Central City?

….Crap

I decide to head off towards the setting sun. If I'm in America, I should reach a place that should give me directions soon enough. Then, I'll take the shortest route possible there. If I'm in the middle east or elsewhere, then, well, I'm boned. My perception speed has slowed, or I'm just moving faster, because after jogging for a bit with no obstacles I've started running at like 50 or so miles per hour. Reminds me of Sonic Unleashed, really. There were a few times I might of tripped over some rocks, but my perception sped up(or did I automatically slow down?) so I was back at normal speed(relatively).

I'm also slightly fitter. It's not like lighting gave me abs or anything,but I'm not stopping every five(relative) seconds to take a breath. In fact, it feels like I don't need air yet at all. While Batman can breathe in space, I don't think I can. Still, not going to complain. Let's just chalk it down to speedster bullcrap.

I've been running for what feels like 10 minutes, and ,wait road! I turn, and begin to my right. Not like it matters, anyway. Effort is rewarded, and a sign bears the letters 'to Chinle', 50 miles. I stop and breathe in. Okay. Now's as good a time to see how fast I am than ever. I take the runner pose and count to 3. And RUN! Gosh, I'm pushing myself faster than I have before, and it feels like I'm stretching, or scratching an itch. A grin works its way onto my face, and I reach civilization in what feels like ten relative seconds. That.. should have taken longer? I think that my perception is slowing down to accommodate the travel of and empty road. Thanks power!

I stop next to a guy on the road and let myself slow down. A gust of wind accompanies me and he jumps, startled. Well, time to see if my social fu has magically improved. It's just a dream though, so I'm not worried. "Hello!" The man has a startled expression on his face, and he's looking at me funny. He looks American, so he should have heard me...am I still too fast ? I notice the slight blue coloring of the world around us. Focus, the tint is gone…"Did I go to fast?". He jumps again, and quickly shakes his head before responding."Ah, no. Just not everyday we get a cape out here." Wait , I thought cape was a Worm term? I guess my mind is so used to it, I'm just thinking like that. I even unconsciously though of certain hero tech in comics as tinker tech. Oh, the blue's back. Pushing it away, I smile and say, "Well sorry, to bother you, but can you point me towards Central City? " His expression changes, this time confusion."No, I've never heard of a city named that." I frown. I am on Earth-2? "Keystone city?"

"No, never heard of it either."

I stop, but before I can respond he asks,

"Are you with the Protectorate?" Well shit. My dreamland is Worm.

Must be all them CYOAs and SI's floating around.


	2. 1:2

1.2

 **Unknown Data**

 **Unknown Time**

After thanking road guy, I head in the direction that he tells me is east. After all, if I am in Worm dreamland, I might as well head to Brockton Bay. It just wouldn't be the same if I didn't. Seeing as how I still have a country to cross, and the desert is starting to turn into grassy plains,I need a list of things to do after I arrive in the bay and before I wake up. Let's see, punch Shadow Stalker/Sophia Hess in the face? Of course! Piss off Coil? Why not. Give Taylor a hug? Well, it's not like anything could be worse for her. Seeing how I'm in a super villains costume, I might as well spar with the Protectorate. Earth Bet had comics right? Well, they probably won't recognize me(or more accurately my costume), but I'm in a dream, so it's not like anything I do will have lasting impact. I was planning on writing a Zoom/Worm crossover sometime in the future, so I might as well. Might give me some good ideas. Who should I fight though? Velocity should be fitting enough, after all, red speedster lol.

I'm so lost in thought that I almost don't see the trucks before I hit the front one.

When I regain consciousness, the first thing I think is ' _I guess that auto speed adjust doesn't happen if I'm distracted'_. The next thing I notice is this sticky stuff stuck on me. Is that containment foam? Where ever they placed me, all I can see if the roof of the truck we're in, and there's no doubt it's a truck, bumping along as it is. There's also a noise, like if you slowed someone down, and then multiplied that by 100.

I don't think this is a dream.

It takes what feels like 5 minutes to calm down enough that my power isn't out of control to hear what the voice is saying.

"-and of course, assaulting a birdcage convoy is only going to get you there as well, especially when you destroy the front truck." The voice is mocking, condescending, and generally what you would expect from someone who see everything else as dirt. I would move, but it's not like I can go anywhere. Wait, did he say birdcage? What's the last thing that happened?

"Awake now, are we?"

Oh, right. Everything turns blue as I go into relative time to think things through. Okay, so I somehow ended up in worm. Can I remember my name? It's Luke . I said my name was Luke . Hun. Last thing I remember before the desert is going to bed. I thought CYOAs were precursed by old spice ads and shady apps you swear you don't remember downloading. At least, I'm going to assume I'm a CYOA. I wonder what my complications are?

No, focus. We can find out what I have later. I don't think I'm in Skitter mode, 'cause the revised one said crossover powers aren't allowed in skitter mode, and the other one would probably let me escape by flexing my powers.

But am I Zoom or Professor Zoom? The latter means I can escape anytime I want, whereas Zolomon had to 'affect the time around him to go to the point where there was no wall'. I seem to be horribly nerfed, so I don't know if I'm fast enough to phase, or can time jump like Zolomon. Doesn't matter, unless I want to test my lungs against the supposed vacuum the birdcage is in, I'll need to find out now. Well, if I wasn't on the radar before, I will be now. Why couldn't I have an old spice app or Javascript hack? At least then I'd be prepared.


	3. 1:3

1.3

 **Unknown Time**

 **In a PRT Transport**

I've always wanted superspeed like the Flash. It's my dream power, the one I would take out of everything. Zoom technically is a speedster, but is so loaded down with clauses that it might as well be. Or breaker effects, if we're going by Worm terms. I'll have to get used to that. Pretty sure I don't need interdimensional politics screwing with me as well.

The thought that the foam would arrest any attempts to escape by vibration is something I can't dwell on. If I am in Worm, then being locked up inside the birdcage isn't going to accomplish anything. Working with the Protectorate would expose me to Cauldron and Coil faster than you can say 'Hi, I'm Zoom', so working with them wasn't immediately in the plan. Why don't I know my name, anyway? That never made sense. I guess ROB was feeling by the numbers when he dropped me here. At least I can say my first name.

What will I do when I get out? Brockton Bay is the most familiar place I can go, and it makes sense to fight where you know the ground. Ah, wait, getting sidetracked. Escape, then brilliant plan for fixing things.

It's a bit awkward, but I find that I can wiggle enough to vibrate a few inches in either direction. As I speed up my vibrations, my perception once again auto-lowers itself till I perceive myself vibrating at a reasonable rate. While it saves me the self embarrassment of feeling like a fool, I don't smack into any pavement, meaning one of 2 things.

I'm simply not fast enough to vibrate through objects….yet.

There's more to it than speed, and I'm doing something wrong.

The foam is slowing me just enough to stop me from escaping.

The foam has anti-phasing properties.

Phasing won't work like that in worm.

I'm Zolomon(or have his powers), so no matter how hard I try, I'll never be a real speedster.

1-5 leave me high and dry, as I don't think I can get faster than what I was doing, and I don''t have the room or mentor to properly teach me how to phase. Zolomon never phased through things by vibrating them, though. The best explanation given to me by a freind is that Zolomon displaces himself from time until the object isn't there, then walks through the area it occupied, and then goes back to the time he was from.

This means my power should work in 2 different ways, A). Zoom actually time travels at will, and somehow can go exactly back to the point in time he came from, and has never accidentally got stuck in the wall. Option B says that he just selects a chunk of wall, scrolls through time until it was never there, strolls through, and then returns it to normal. Both are confusing, though if option b works, then I'll probably net a shaker rating. Don't know what A would count as though. Power ratings, gotta collect them all.

I focus on the foam around me, and try to think of time.

 _I want this foam to be as it will be in ten years._

Nothing happens. Okay. I think of how it feels to be in this relative state. I can't describe it.

It'd be like asking someone to describe the taste of air. Something instinctive and familiar. Then I push the feeling around me, and the foam takes on a blue hue, which is kinda impressive, seeing as how everything else is blue at this point. What now?

I envision a mouse wheel, and scroll it upwards. Immediately I can feel the impression of a number. + 0000;000;00;00;05. I don't know how, but I automatically know it means 5 seconds.

In the future. There's no change though, so I push it up more. Roughly around the hour point the foam starts to shrink. I get up to look around. There's a man with an orange jumpsuit and the letter BPCC. Must be the prisoner,cause the only other guy is an obvious guard who looks bored out of his mind. I pointedly let the foam's timer go, and it pops back into existence. Luckily, I'm not in it anymore. While I'm pretty sure breaking out of a transport is illegal, I'll make sure to send them flowers later.

This time, I select the door and think of an oval. This time, the said shape appears on the door, though it's too small to fit through. A thought makes it bigger, and I jump out. Straight into the path of the truck behind us.


	4. 1:4

1.4

 **Help Me I'm going to Die!**

Welp, that was a bad idea.

Luckily, auto-speed kicks in, and the truck is suddenly at a crawl. Gravity is still pulling me down normally, so I hit the ground at what must be inhuman speed. Time Travel **is,** infact, bullshit. I think I can hear Clockblocker from here.

A quick side step, and I'm watching the truck speed by me. The hole closed behind me. Not sure how that happened. Regardless, I stop to admire the passing of the trucks. Obliging me, time goes to an almost normal speed. I think that I can safely say I've picked up Zoom's powerset after this.

The trucks immediately screech to a halt. Not sure how they did that. Tinker made breaks? The back door of the last one opens up and a squad of PRT troops swarm out. The lead one points his gun at me, some kind of bastard child of the flamer from Fallout. It doesn't even take until the liquid starts spewing out that I know what it is. Containment foam, and while I escaped from it last time, my shenanigans have left me tired, and I don't feel like doing it again.

Stepping out of the line of fire, it's almost comical to see his expression slowly pop onto his face as he realises he missed. Then his buddies open fire. I know that this time that I can evade, even with the slowly forming ice around me, but said ice indicates that a cape has gotten involved. As is, more are probably on their way. Even now, a green guy has popped into existence, with a girl clad in black and white accompanying him. What's the phrase? Beg for forgiveness later?

Either way, I'm already moving as Green and White are getting oriented. A guy in blue and white on top of the truck indicates the likely ice cape, so I head that way first. A quick punch to his back should solve that. When I punch him, I meet some kind of resistance. Careful not to press against it, I pull back before my fist goes through it and into his back. Time flashes back to normal for an instant, enough to see him collapse. A quick check for pulse says he's not dead, and there's no bleeding. Evidently I used the right amount of force. Everyone is turning to fight me, but we're interrupted by a shout from the prison transport.

"Something's wrong with the restraints!" Evidently, prison guy is more important, cause Green blinks over there, and then inside the now propped open door.

The containment foam guys are hold their fire for now, and while White looks like she wants to rip my throat out, she doesn't move. And then there's an almost too loud sound of boots hitting the ground behind me, and the voice from earlier speaks out.

"Thanks for the help, good chap." I turn just in time to see the prisoner give me a jaunty wave, before disappearing with Green. Shit.

More pressing is the hoarse cry of "Take him down!" from behind me. Blue flashes. and I see the start of containment foam being shot my way. Even the guys with regular guns look like they're about to open fire. I need to end this now. I move, off the truck, and began punching the guys as i go. 1,2,3,4,5,6, and then the containment foam guys. I turn on my heels after the last one is down, and throw a punch towards White, but instead of resistance, my fist just goes through her. Concentration lost, I quickly pull back my hand and drop back to normal speed, only to get nailed in the back.

The pain is more intense than I've ever felt, and I'm knocked off my feet. The word sniper flashes through my mind, though as I fall , I see some grunt with a rifle. And then some wave or something passes over my body, and I'm at full speed again. I see red, and launch myself from my crouch on the road, propelling my fist into the guy's face. At the last second I remember about not pushing against the resistance. It's just in time, and instead of my fist destroying his face, I merely treated to a sickening crack as his nose is pushed inwards. By the time he hits the ground, I've already processed what I've done. By the time his head bounces off the pavement twice, I'm already gone.


	5. 1:5

A/N: This chapter is mostly the SI planning. Probably not too interesting to most, but I wanted to provide some insight to his thoughts.

1.5

[B]Date Unknown

Late at Night[/B]

After my fifth or so passed rest stop(I honestly lost count), I zip over to the available restrooms, pull back my cowl, and puke my guts out. One toilet vomiting session later, and I'm stumbling over to the sinks(with my cowl back up of course). What stops me is my reflection. It's not any change to my body, though I'm not as scrawny as I was, or the red lightning flickering around my suit, but my eyes, which are completely covered with a thick red glow.

It takes me breathing in and out and a lot of focus, but I push the blue tint, which has been here the entire time down to a manageable level, and reveals more of my eyes. As I suspected, the pupils are black, and the irises the same color as my lighting. Well, I guess my identity is safe at least.

It's this thought that sends me into a small bit of laughter, which lets me push away the last of the blue. In this state, my eyes are completely normal, so at least I'm not barred from going out in civies. Oh, right, I should plan for what's next.

Protectorate and the PRT are off. If I wasn't on their shit list before, I'm pretty sure I am now. While I could probably get off it by joining on probationary status, I'm pretty sure I don't exist here, which would raise questions I don't think I can answer. It's not like I can just see what'll happen, after all, I can't abuse my power to save scum via time travel. Plus, I would have to deal with re-branding and PR teams. Yuck.

I still think that Brockton Bay is my best bet. The town's such a shithole that I can't possibly make things work by my mere existence, and the PRT/Protectorate should be to busy to deal with me. Joining the gangs is straight out. Only the minor one are somewhat appealing. I'm not a Case-53, and the Undersiders are firmly in Coils pocket, and those are the only 2 that I'm even willing to consider. New Wave is the only other option I can think of, and while unmasking shouldn't be a problem if I'm a non-entity, but I can't imagine they'd want me. Independent is the only option I see here, and I don't think that the PRT would just let me waltz in and sign up.

I know that independents aren't supposed to last long, but I don't think anyone can trap me or otherwise forcibly recruit me. The convoy proved that. Actually, now that I think about it, I wonder if I have a shard that's simply mimicking Zoom's power. If that's the case, then being horribly underpowered makes a lot more sense than 'lol, the CYOA did it'. If I don't though, then I should be immune to powers that rely on shard connections.

While I don't want to hunt down Jack Slash or Hatchet Face to prove a point, it's still an interesting question. If I don't have a shard, then theoretically I should be slowly progressing until I reach full power. A least, that's what the CYOA says…. I think. Shit.

I can't afford to forget everything yet. I should try to write down what I remember when I find a place to crash. If I have the thinker immunity perk, interacting with Tattletale should be fine, though I'm not really willing to risk it. I think I can try selling information to her, if I am immune to thinkers, which I'd rather do than rob a store.

I think Skitter joined the Undersiders on April 11th or something. If I'm before then, then I can try to stop Coil from kidnapping Dinah. As much as I'd like to take out the other gangs, breaking the stalemate seems like a terrible idea. Coil's group and Merchants are the only territory holders I think I can take out. I don't even know if killing Lung is possible right now, and, sad as it is, E88 is the only one stopping him from holding the city, and the inverse is true. I don't even know if I can hurt Hookwolf, and Fenja and Menja are powerful enough to make me worried. Everyone else I'm simply too fast for, and aren't durable enough to tank blows from me.

The rest of the city doesn't really worry me. The Protectorate should have better things to do than chase me around. Armsmaster might be able to cook something up to stop me, so I'll just have to avoid engaging him in particular. All the other heros don't concern me too much.

Pondering done, I take in the general road map before heading towards the east, and Brockton Bay. It's time to get this show on the road.


	6. 1:6

A/N: Short little bit that didn't really fit into 1.5 or 2.1, so enjoy.

1.6

[B]Outside Brockton Bay

April 8th 2011

03:06 AM EST

[/B]

Outside the Brockton Bay itself is relatively unimpressive. The city itself is bigger than what I'm normally used to, but a stroll though it leaves me unimpressed. The best comparison I can think of is Detroit. Actually, it's not all that bad, but I get the impression that things only look this good because they wanted things to look good for the tourists. A sweep of the city confirms this, with the deterioration getting worse as you get further from the boardwalk.

A bit of hesitation leaves me sweeping through a clothing store at the local mall. I only take one set, and it's from one of the better off stores in the mall so it shouldn't be that much worse off. I may of also taken most of the cash in the register at the store. I'm gone by the time the police arrive, which leaves me with one problem.

How do I get this costume off?

Trial and error in an abandoned building a good distance away from the mall reveals that the entire thing can be removed by ripping the thing in 2, where it then conveniently separates at the waist. I want to keep it on me at all times though, so I elect to remove the gloves(done in the same fashion as the torso and leg pieces) and cover the entire thing with jeans that are just a bit too big, requiring a belt, a long sleeved, brandless green shirt, a grey sweatshirt on top of that(the gloves are shoved in the front pockets, which zip up nicely),and hiking boots to hide the Zoom boots, which is the most distinctly uncomfortable part of the ensemble. With the cowl hidden beneath the sweatshirt, and a stolen newspaper (let's be honest, it's the least harmful thing I've taken tonight) citing the date as April 7th,2011(or is it the 8th now?), I have an idea of where I sit in canon. Right before Taylor gets juice spilled on her, and the day the story starts.

While this means I can't stop the locker, I'm not entirely sure I would have. Stopping Taylor from triggering could mean the end of the world, and since I live here now, I kind of have a vested interest in it not ending. I'll try to stop it if I can, but since the mailbox only needed to be zoomed a bit over 2 years into the future to make it disappear, my hopes aren't high that I'm going to stop the apocalypse by being here.

My next destination is to a seedy motel on the outskirts of town. Luckily, no eyebrows are so much as raised, I'm in a room that's seen better days. I don't even bother changing clothes, setting the alarm to 7 in the morning, plopping down on the bed, and sleep takes me within minutes.


	7. Interlude 1:PRT

Interlude 1: PRT

[B]PRT Headquarters

April 7th

6:00 EST

[/B]

Chief Director Rebecca Costa-Brown was not having a good day.

The transfer of the villain known as Tyrant to the Birdcage had been interrupted,with Tyrant being freed by a previously unknown parahuman currently called Speed. While the name was uncreative(all the good names had been taken early on) it was an apt description. The current camera footage suggested that Speed was one of the fastest known movers on record(besides teleporters), and worryingly, he seemed to bypass the usual restrictions speedsters had. Except for one or two, all of the known speedsters in the world where limited in how much they could affect the outside world.

Speed made the list 3.

Being able to throw punches at 100 mph into your face before you can see them coming was worrying, and it had already landed 3 PRT agents in the hospital(one of them in intensive care) and a cape. The list of known healers in the states was depressingly small, and only 3 actively worked with the Protectorate, one was a minor, and none of them could heal brains.

More worryingly was the escape of Tyrant, with a new protectorate thrall. Tyrant was a Stricker/Master who completely controlled anyone he touched. His range was unknown, and the only drawback was his inability to retain control past 24 hours of being touched by him.

The current item in the agenda was discussing what to do with Speed. It wasn't very productive.

The director from Brockton Bay(Director Piggot, her memories told her) was less than happy with the situation.

"We can't allow this to continue. This set a dangerous precedent. Madcap was bad enough, but whoever decided to pick up his legacy couldn't of started with a better person. Now, we have a Master with a member of the Protectorate who escaped transfer with help from someone who took down a full transport, without problem, on his first try." Director Piggot took this moment to pause, before continuing.

"With this 'Speed' on the loose,no villain sentenced to the Birdcage has a guarantee to end up there. Any number of criminals will pay just for the insurance of escaping transfer. Speed has even proven that he can escape containment foam. Even worse is if he attracts a following." The Chief director frowned.

"Explain."

Director Vagts spoke up."What I believe Director Piggot means is that Speed has proven that breaking up Birdcage convoys are something that is not only possible for someone like Madcap, but can be done by others. It's know that Madcap was a particularly powerful parahuman, and it's even lesser know that he got off by joining the protectorate. If villains start to perceive that not only can birdcage convoy breaks happen, they can be profitable, we're looking at this becoming a business, or even a way to gain favours." The Chief Director had had these fears, but she had hoped that no one else had picked up on them. The birdcage was just a step below a kill order, and the preferable alternative to it. The birdcage had long been a deterrent to villains, a reminder that those who broke the unwritten rules would suffer in an inescapable nightmare.

While Madcap had been a nuisance, they had ultimately been able to contain him, but Speed had proven himself to be able to escape their only countermeasure against parahumans via an unknown power. Even worse was Speeds apparent immunity to thinker support. Currently, Speed sat on top of an impressive Mover 9, Brute 4, and Trump 2. Madcap had taken a joint effort between Legend and Battery to stop, and this new parahuman looked like he outclassed Madcap in power level, if the broken face of Private Peck was anything to go by.

The power assessment wasn't necessarily meant to provide an in depth report to PRT/Protectorate members, but instead change their threat level to those fighting them. Speed had nearly healed instantaneously from a gunshot wound, and had dispatched armoured PRT soldiers with a single punch. The trump rating signified his immunity to all know thinkers, and the exact mechanisms of his escape from the foam was a complete mystery. Nothing was out of place until Speed had simply walked out of the foam and through the door like it wasn't there.

The PRT was now faced an uncontainable threat that had already freed one villain from a future in the Birdcage, and they had no idea of how to stop him.

"I'll contact Dragon on possible ways to contain Speed," She said,"and I'll talk to Alexandria herself about possible parahumans that can capture him. In the meantime, keep an eye out for sightings of Speed. I'll contact the PR department on a more suitable name for him for our press release. Now, I believe that our general consensus is to make bringing in Speed a priority for any departments who see him?" A quick set of nods around the room confirmed this. Rebecca had feared this.

"In the meantime, I recommend that only parahumans engage Speed. PRT troops cannot be expected to reliable contain him, so for now we should have non powered individuals avoid engaging him unless necessary. If Speed is brought in in the meantime, than containing him and preventing his escape is priority 1. We'll offer him the same deal as Assault, but we can't count on containing him for long. If you manage to capture him, I expect the report to be on my desk within the hour." At the second round of nods, though some were considerably less happy this time, Rebecca took the opportunity to end the discussion.

"If that's all, then this meeting is adjourned." With no one protesting, the Director all signed off, some having to deal with the beginning of the no doubt long day of running their respective departments. After they all signed off, she waited a few seconds before pressing the button for privacy, and then opened the hidden space that hid her costume. Barely a few minutes later, Alexandria was the only one in the room.

"Door me."

 **Above Europe**

High above the earth, the Simurgh turned from west to east.


	8. 2:1

2.1

 **Brockton Bay**

 **April 8th 2011**

 **7:00 EST**

BRRT!BRRT!Ah!BRRT! Alarm Clock!BRRT!*Click!*

Why did? Where am? Ah, right, Worm. Plans! I had plans! I scramble up and look around. I'm still in the hotel, and there's no suit lady, so I'm assuming Cauldron hasn't found me yet. I've still got the costume on, so none of it was a dream at all. After zooming(heh) over to the bathroom, I splash some water over my face, and reveiw my agenda for the day.

1), check PHO for news about me. Knowing what the PRT has to say about me can determine what needs to be done next.

2), Obtain more money. The amount I took from the store will get me by for a while, but I'll need more in the future. Plan one is to sell information to Tattletale. Not sure how well that'll work, but it's better than nothing. Otherwise I'll need to hit one of the gang safehouses. I think E88 sounds good. No one likes nazis. No one.

3), Power testing. Knowing exactly what I can do will prevent anything like yesterday from happening.

After that, I have no clue. Well, better get busy. Even I only have a limited amount of time in the day.

Five wrong turns later, and I'm at what passes for a library in Brockton Bay. The buildings have clearly seen better days, but it's still impressive. Two stone statues that look like they were airdropped out of medieval Europe flank the front doors, which are made up of heavy wood. I think I saw a couple of shaved gangers back there, so I'm assuming that this is E88 territory, or at least claimed by them. I hope that they have working computers.

Walking in the front doors reveals a wide open space, with a computer lab(Yes!) on the left, while the rest of the space opens into the library itself. The front desk is a big wooden thing, with a bored 60-year oldish woman seated behind it. I walk up, and, making sure that my power's off, I clear my throat. The woman looks up from her book, surprised to see me.

"I'd like to use a computer."

She takes a moment to appraise me, before nodding and handing me a white card with a password on it. I was expecting her to tell me to get to school, but she seemed apathetic at best. Moving to the farthest computer back, I fire it up and login using the card. The web browser seems to be some version of Safari, but nothing I'm familiar with. It's easy enough to use though, and finding PHO is no hard feat in of itself. Unfortunately, sending messages is impossible, requiring an account. Well shit.

One junk email and completely inaccurate information filled out in the signup box later, and I'm set.

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 **Topic: Tyrant Escaped!**

 **In: Boards ► News ► Events ► America**

 **NewsGuy7330** (Original Poster) (The Guy In The Know)

Posted on January 1, 2000:

For all those unawares, Tyrant, a recently captured supervillain, was freed last night at roughly at 7:00 last night. See here for the PRT's official statement. Tyrant was freed by a new supervillain currently named 'Redbolt'. If anyone has information on him, then please contact the PRT here.

 **(Showing Page 1 of 5)**

 **JamesC**

Replied on April 8, 2011:

Well damn. Hope that Tyrants captured soon and we get response back.

► **Whit-4**

Replied on April 8, 2011:

What do we know about Redbolt? Also, can't help but feal sorry for the guy, stuck with a name like that.

► **William** (Veteran Member)

Replied on April 8, 2011:

Whit-4

Don't feel sorry for supervillains. Espicaly when there monsters like Tyrant.

► **Informer935**

Replied on April 8, 2011:

Redbolt is currently rated Mover 9, Brute 4, and Trump 2. Report say speedster, but how the hell does a speedster get a trump rating?

► **Ployman**

Replied on April 8, 2011:

Informer

Mover 9 on speedster? How fast is this guy?

► **Smittyy6** (Verified PRT Agent)

Replied on April 8, 2011:

Let me tell you, 'Bolts terrifying. All you see when he moves is the red lighting he leaves behind, and he took out 10 guys and a cape in a second with no problems what so ever.

► **Mistrock**

Replied on April 8, 2011:

Exactly how many speedsters can ineract normaly with the world? I know most are restricted in some way, but this guy doesn't sound like he has those problems.

► **GStringGirl**

Replied on April 8, 2011:

How many people got hurt?

► **Informer935**

Replied on April 8, 2011:

GStringGirl

10 PRT troops and one cape.

► **JamesC**

Replied on April 8, 2011:

Lucky no one died. Hope the PRT brings him in soon.

 **End of Page. 1,** **2** **,** **3** **,** **4** **,** **5**

Well. Ten hospitalized. That...doesn't affect me as much as I thought it would.

Next thing to do is contact Tattletale. AllSeeingEye was her fanon contact info, and finding the account wasn't even hard. I paused before hitting the PM button. Was this the right thing to do? More importantly, what would the repercussions be if I went through with this? Well, in for a penny, in for a dime. Or something like that.

 **Zoom:** Got info for you. Bring cash if interested. Brockton Public Library, back ally. Do not tell your boss

 **Private message from AllSeeingEye:**

.

 **AllSeeingEye *New Message*:** Who are you? OMW.

Well. Now the wheels are in motion.

A/N: Would of updated sooner, but I was busy. Also, tried to preserve formatting, though it's probably pretty ugly regardless.


	9. 2:2

**Brockton Bay**

 **April 8th 2011**

 **7:47 EST**

As expected Tattletale shows up. At least, I think it's her. Girl,blond hair, freckles over her nose, seems like Lisa/Tattletale. What is also expected is the man in biker leathers who's watching from the building across the street, as well as the renaissance fair reject. Grue and Regent. Even after superspeed sweeping the block, I can't find hide nor hair of Bitch. Guess she didn't show up. Grue's power is darkness generation, with a few bells and whistles attached, namely the suppression of sound, and blockage of radio waves. Regent has the ability to cause twitches and spasms in his opponent's body. Given sufficient time, he can completely master someone, walking around their body like a puppet. In lieu of any close quarter fighting ability, he carries a scepter with a stun gun in the bottom. I'm not sure if it's coincidence, but both of them could prove problematic for me if they ambushed me.

What I have to say is for Lisa only, so I don't feel guilty about dispatching her companions. Grue is defeated by a single punch(though I'm extra careful not to hurt him). Regent is much easier, just take the scepter and taze him with it. After holding it against him for a sufficient amount of time, I pull it away, and deposit him in the alley, grab Grue, and take him back too. Tattletales expression, which was her signature grin, morphs into confusion and shock as her teammates hit the floor.

 _"_ _This wasn't part of our agreement."_

I spent the time waiting for her to practice in the library bathroom mirror. The practice was more productive than I intended, as I learned how to time my power to give me red eyes. While it seems mostly pointless with a full face mask, it's scary as hell. The second thing I learned how to do was vibrate my vocal cords to change my voice. After all, you can never be too careful with someone like now, I've timed my reaction speed so I'm seeing things mostly normal, but my body is moving at about 3 times normal speed. The end result is a blurry mess of an image, with barely glowing red eyes and the occasional flicker of red lighting over my body. By the time she's processed this, she's already backing away with her hands up. "Easy there, cowboy, we're just here to talk."

 _"_ _If you just wanted to talk, then I don't see why you needed company. What I have to say was for your ears only."_

She simply shrugs and responds with the unbeatable argument.

"Name someone who wouldn't bring backup to a situation like this."

Logic. My worst enemy. Wait a second.

 _"_ _You didn't tell Coil you were coming here, did you?"_

I don't need Coil prematurely learning of my existence. That would be awful, especially given my next plans. Her eyes ever so slightly widen at that, but then it's gone and she's put this smirk on her face.

"So what if I did?"

 _"_ _Then you'll live to regret it."_

Normally, I wouldn't say something like that, but intimidation is my strategy of choice here. I've been doing well so far by pretending it's just a game, and any success I have is due to my high school drama skills. Not like I expect it to work, after all, this is the person who mouthed off to Jack Slash.

"Well then what information did you have that you thought was so valuable to me?" I zip up to her face for the next part.

 _"_ _Maybe I won't tell you now, teach you about bringing uninvited guest."_

I really wish that I had a camera. Her expression is one of those things you can't describe without a picture. Still, she takes it in stride. "If you know so much about me, what makes you thinks that I'll pay for this information?"

Hook, line, and sinker. _"I know what Coil's power is."_

Her face visibly pales, before shaking it off. "What? How? **Who are you?** "

I raise a figure _"Ah,ah,ah. Money first. Then I'll decide if I still want to tell you."_

Her faces falls in defeat. "I didn't bring any money." Damn. She brightens up real quick though. "I don't suppose that I can convince you to sell it for 200$?"

Well I had two plans in case this happened. Plan A, go! _"200$ in advance, and the rest paid later. "_

Her grin is back."Deal."

Sounds good. Except for two things. _"How do you plan to contact me?"_

She shrugs, then reaches into her back pocket and fishes out 200$ and a flip phone that's seen better days. I accept it, and superspeed it into one of my concealed pockets.

"I'll contact you with that."

It could be bugged, so I'll have to keep it off until I check for messages. _"How can I trust you to pay your full debt?"_

Lisa shrugs again, and says, "Well you know where I live right?".

 _"_ _Indeed."_ I pocket the phone in one of my newly discovered pockets. _"Do follow through, or else Mr and Mrs Livesey will get an anonymous call as to the whereabouts of their daughter. "_

With that, I take my leave.


	10. 2:3

2.3

 **Brockton Bay**

 **April 8th 2011**

 **7:59 EST**

Before I go away, I stop and search Grue and Regent and superspeed. Disappointingly, neither have much cash on them. I'm two blocks away when I realize that I still have the scepter. Whoops.

Still, this thing can't be cheap. I make a note to pawn it back to Regent later. It's not like he can't afford it, with the amount coil pays them in canon. Actually, how much does Coil pay them? I remember that he pays them 2,000 to stay together in canon, but that doesn't seem like that much. Maybe a bit more to than minimum wage, but I can't imagine that it pays that much better than a professional job. Must be a hell of a dental plan.

I flip open the phone that Tattletale gave me and scroll through the recorded calls log. None of the numbers register with me, though I'm willing to bet that at least some of these people are Undersiders/Coils men. I power it off for now, and start heading towards the ship graveyard. I've got powers to test.

The first thing I do upon reaching my destination is to observe my surroundings. The boat graveyard is more or less exactly what I expected it to be, full of boats that have certainly seen better days. I put Regents scepter down on the sand and consider my first objective. The first thing that I want to test that doesn't involve self harm is my phasing. Focusing on a section of the boats in front of me reveals the depressing time stamp of almost two years before its gone, and going back some more considerable time gets the metal out of there as well.

The real question I need answered is how easily I can do this on the fly. I let the effect fade into nothing before getting ready to run at the boat.

3...2..1..Go!

As I start out running the short distance between myself and the boat, I focus on the obstacle in front of me. I don't know if it's the panic or urgency, but I reach the disappearing point in record time. I jump through the hole that's just wide enough to accommodate me, only to to reach the wall just feet behind it.

As it turns out, running into a wall at subsonic speeds gets you what feels like a broken jaw and many lost teeth. As I lie on the floor, I think 'well, that went well'. And then a flash of power, and I'm back to normal again. A quick pat down reveals that I'm fine, and basically back to normal. A feel of my jaw confirms that there no lumps or anything from an awkward heal, and that all of my teeth are in place. That rules out regeneration, so my bet is that my body is somehow reverting back to the state it was in before it was injured, or something like that.

After many more mishaps with walls, I can confirm something strange. Sometimes I'll run into walls, but when flipping into the future, the impact that I leave is never there until I actually run into the wall. This gives me many theories, though only one seems plausible.

Flipping through time doesn't actually take into any changes I will make until I actually make them.

With that oddity out of the way, I decide to check my newly obtained phone and see what time it is. Oh shit, it's 9:21 right now. Tattletales message is displayed on the screen.

you never told me coils power. name a time and a date, and I'll give you the rest of what i owe u.

tt

I sent back the reply text, then leaned back.

same place tomorrow, if you have the money by then. i'll even sell back r's scepter. z

A reply comes in a minute or so later.

r says he'll pay 200$ for it.

That's going to be a thing isn't it.

can't possible be that cheap. the stun gun felt extra strong. 500$

Tattletale messages me back in just a few seconds.

r says he's up for it. sell it back when we meet?

Well, that wraps up that.

deal


	11. 2:4

2.4

 **Brockton Bay**

 **April 8th 2011**

 **11:03 EST**

The Boardwalk is everything I was expecting, and worse. Seriously. 15$ for coffee? Said coffee better not be coffee so much as it is the nectar of the gods.

Unfortunately, the rest of the items are just as ridiculously overpriced. Even in alternate dimensions, capitalism rules all.

If my knowledge of canon is correct, today is the day that Taylor gets juice spilled on her, leading to the rise of Skitter.

While helping Taylor sure seems like a good idea, I have no clue how to approach her. 'Hey, I'm from an alternate dimension, where your entire life is a story, and because I feel bad for you, I'm going to un-fuck your life!'. Yeah,no.

I'm not exactly a therapist or psychologist, and can't assume that all fanon are the logical or even likely outcomes, meaning that I have no idea as to how make things better for Taylor. Pushing for her to join the wards seems nice, but I'm kind of a known villain, so approaching Taylor and convincing her to join the wards is a horrible,horrible idea. Even assuming that the whole fanon(canon)? of 'Taylor attacked the undersiders in one timeline, causing both her and the undersiders to die horribly' and 'Taylor was going to commit suicide by cape' are incorrect, if either are true, then I don't look forward to fighting the girl who killed Alexandria with bees(my god).

With that incredibly long winded and possible proof that one of my new powers is internal dialog, I move onto my next target.

Dinah Alcott.

I don't have anything against the girl, but Coil's going to be kidnaping her in roughly 6 days, so I can't leave this issue alone. Morally, I feel obligated help her, after all, she's twelve. Practically, letting Coil get his hands on one of the more powerful precogs is a very bad idea, considering I plan on taking him out at one point or another. Only one problem.

My apparent immunity to thinkers means that convincing Dinah to let me help her is something spotty at best, and relies on 'bad man going to give you drugs and enslave you', and I certainly don't have any idea of where to look for her.

At least, not right now.

The main reason that I'm here though is the convenient maps of town, giving me a good look at the general layout of everything. Including the mayor's office. With the map drilled into my head, I decide that now's the best time to skedaddle. I think those enforcers over there are looking at me funny.

Searching the school and the city record's are tedious for three reasons. The first is finding and destroying the security cameras to leave no existence of my presence. The next step require actually finding the rooms. Leaving as little presence of my existence means I can't shake down staff to find what I'm looking for, and as it would turn out, the records of students and city members are kind of hard to find. I have to spend nearly 20(relative) minutes at the mayor's office and about 5 at the school to find the records room. Luckily, apparently alternate USA still believes in paper records, so I don't have to test the speed hacking technique of try every password combination, because that would take about a year in my estimation.

The only problem in the rooms is carefully searching every box and hoping that these things are in alphabetical order. Luck strikes again though, and Alcott is pretty close to the start of the alphabet, so the search is mercifully short.

Dinah's description is more or less what I'd expect from what we got, 12, brown hair, yada yada. Her school lets out at 3:00 o'clock, though I suspect that the actual number is more like 2:58 or something. It's not even hard with the information to find the route that she would take home, either by bus or by foot.

Waiting for school gets out is actually worse when you're not in school, as it turns out. It turns out that BB actually has such a hideously low education budget that there are no dedicated school buses, and students instead get a pass that gives them free use of the cities public transportation. With this in mind, and the use of the public bus routes, I found the route that Dinah should be taking home. Assuming her parents don't decide to drive her.

The chances of this are incredibly low, as both her parents work full time jobs, meaning that Dinah should be using the public transportation. Unless she gets a ride from a friend. In which case I have to bank on her riding the bus on one of the other days this week. Well, it's better than just kidnapping her.

Luckily I don't have to wait long as the girl that I recognize from the files I looked over comes around the corner. Dinah Alcott.

As she walks by I lean off the wall and,after looking around for any bystanders, I pick up my pace in order to catch up to her. As I draw near to her, I casually ask,

"Chances you're attacked and kidnapped in the next few days?"

She looks at me a bit strangely, and answers,

"97.45821%"

Before I can ask her anything else though, She responds,

"Why can't I see you?"

I internally sighed and weigh my options. While I didn't want to reveal anything to the kid who would reveal whatever she thought she needed increase the odds, I didn't really have a choice if I wanted her to trust me.

"I'm immune to thinkers."

She seems to consider this, before nodding.

"Are you going to kidnap me?"

Who ask that and expects an honest answer? Either way, I say,

"I don't plan on it."

She frowns, but nods. At this point it's a matter of of determining what will work and won't work to keep her safe.

"The Protectorate and PRT are compromised. I can't guarantee your safety there."

She thinks(or Thinks?) then nods.

"70.845% I'm kidnapped if I go to them."

Well shit. Knew there had to be a reason in canon.

"New Wave?"

Dinah almost gets this look on her face.

"55.43% chance."

Well, it's better, but those are still too high when dealing with , is she factoring in his power?

"Coil's the man who's going to attack you. His power is to create two different timelines."

Her eyes seem to widen slightly, but the she has what I've now dubbed as the 'Thinking look' on her face. She shake her head after a while though.

"I can't see any local heros who could improve the odds."

She's frustrated. I can understand. There's no one I can pass her off to, and I don't think I can defeat Coil in the given time. Granted, if I could, it's not like she could see if I could. Well, it's time for plan D. I fish a more recently aquired burner phone out of my pocket and hand it off to her. Dinah takes it, though looks at me inquiringly.

"My number already on there. Don't use it unless you need me. I can't guarantee that I'll be able to respond around the clock, though call me if you're ever in danger."

That's the best I can do for now. Hopefuly the mere presence of the phone will allow me to be able to watch over Dinah and deter Coil in whatever timeline he uses to try to kidnap Dinah.

She looks over at me and slowly nods. Well. Let's see your move now Coil. Assuming that he doesn't just take her in the middle of the night.

Not like that!


	12. 2:5

2.5

 **Brockton Bay**

 **April 8th,2011**

 **18:04 EST**

In comparison, the rest of the day goes by without any excitement. I wander the local mall for a bit, before detouring to a department store to obtain some more clothes, as well as other essentials. I drop a change of clothes off at my temporary room. Note to self: obtain an apartment ASAP.

Luckily, the change of clothes doesn't put me back much, so I'm left with enough money to tide me over until tomorrow, assuming Tats actually delivers on the promised money. I really hopes she does. The only thing I remember about the Undersiders base in canon is that it's a) somewhere in the Docks, and b) it's in an abandoned factory, and I don't want to search the entire Docks looking for it.

Regardless, I need a place to eat for the night, and knowing Worm, there's really only one place I can chose on my frist night. Fugly Bob's.

In reality, Fugly Bob's is far from the best burger I've had in my years, though it's up there, no doubt. I'm actually disappointed. Fanon seems to alternate between Fugly Bob's being the best burger joint in town, and drastically failing to live up to the hype. Just being above average is nowhere near as exciting. Regardless, this all leads to the present, being my hotel room.

There's an attached bathroom that I never took note of, so I pop my head in there to investigate. The bathroom actually isn't too bad, as it certainly looks better than the rest of the room. The pure white tile is pretty standard, as is the towel and generic soap and shampoo that I've never seen anyone use. I don't see any bugs crawling around, thank God. Wait, is the whole 'thank Scion' thing canon or fanon? I don't really remember either way. Oh well, that can wait until later.

I hesitantly get ready for a shower, but the worst part I'm expecting is the smell of my costume after wearing it all day. Said odor turns out to be almost nonexistent. Odd. Regardless, I'm ready for my shower, complete with generic brand soap and shampoo(TM).

In the shower, my mind inevitably wanders to the events of the past two days. Yesterday, everything possible went wrong. I've almost certainly got the Protectorate on my tail, and while I could probably get off on a spot in the Wards and probation, that'd come with all kinds of things that I don't want. There's only one other superhero team in BB, and I don't think that I even need to justify not joining them. Any out of town teams come with issues and obstacles, or otherwise wouldn't want to piss off the Protectorate. Unless I made my own team. Like that's going to happen.

Still, even if I want to do some good,or even just survive, I'll need income. The easy answer is to become a parahuman mercenary. I can't imagine the prices that someone would pay for the ability to have my almost unrivaled hit and run abilities at their beck and call, but the issue is that I'm flying solo for the time being. Still, I can probably charge what I want, when I want, and set my own terms. I know that Faultline's crew supposedly has never killed anyone, so I could probably dictate similar terms. I've already show that I've got the talent by breaking that guy out of the convoy, so it's not like I don't already have some street cred.

I'm not even considering being a supervillain.

While becoming a mercenary has its appeal, and certainly seems to be the best option, it doesn't change anything. I'm going to be a hero, even if it's on my own terms. I've already accepted that my chances of changing public opinion on me is going to be difficult, but I'll just keep going one at a time. Still, that's not much of a plan.

I'm already working on taking out Coil, and E88 and the ABB should collapse soon without any effort on my part. The Merchants croaked during the Slaughterhouse 9 arc, so assuming that the Slaughterhouse is still set to come to town, I don't need any effort put there, though I think that I'll try to take them out beforehand if I can. I don't condone mass murder, and with the leaders of the Merchants behind bars, I'll be able to indirectly save their lives, even if they don't deserve it.

As it stands, the rest of the gangs are either too powerful to be taken down at this point, or I don't have a good enough lead on where they'd be to deliver a decisive blow. There's only two other groups in Brockton Bay I haven't considered yet, Uber and Leet, and the Undersiders. I already have plans for the Undersiders, so so that leaves us with Uber and Leet. While they are slightly sympathetic, they still beat up hookers and cause general chaos, so I'll have to either get them out of the game or take them down. I step out of the shower, and taking the towel hanging on the wall, and walk into the room. I glance at the time: 8:04. My costume is still in a pile on the floor, though a sniff test reveals that it still smells neutral. I super-speed it on. The night is young, and I have work to do.

A/N: Huge thanks to Saphrae for betaing for me and otherwise putting up with me. As always, feedback and concerns are welcome, and will be addressed to the best of my abilities.


	13. 2:6

**Brockton Bay**

 **April 8th,2011**

 **18:26 EST**

I start my route, of course, by speeding out of the wall nearest to the outside, and across the roofs. Fortunately, I seem to somehow maintain enough momentum to roof jump, and I travel a few blocks before stopping. Right.

The Merchants hold some territory around town, but it's not much. The docks are almost undisputed ABB turf, and the more well-off parts of the city are held (in most part) by the Empire. The Merchants tend to scum it up in pockets that are uncontested and unnoticed by the bigger, more relevant gangs. I don't think Coil really holds territory either, and if he does I don't know where.

This is both an advantage and disadvantage for me. The more spread out cells mean that I can hit them hard and fast without worrying about timely backup from the other Merchants. On the other hand, I could spend all night looking around town, and either not find any of their capes, or risk my lightning trail giving me up prematurely, causing them to pack up and switch locations.

The obvious solution is to simply locate all of the capes and the major location first, and then hit them rapidly in succession, crippling the Merchants in one fell swoop. OF course, this runs the risk of spooking the Merchants and completely ruining the entire plan. Still, I'm wasting time just standing here, so I end taking off for the north most parts of town. My best plan at this point is to sweep the town, locating Merchant pockets and marking them off to take out once I've found the rest of the hideouts.

The other thing I could try is calling up Dinah or Tattletale and simply playing 'guess where the Merchants are' with a map. I really don't feel comfortable with using Dinah like that, and I especially don't want Tats picking up on any dirt from me. As I reach the north most parts of town, I turn and stop on the highest point I can find. My search pattern is set up like a grid. I can already figure out how I'm going to search from up here, the problem is just doing it. God, this is going to be dull.

I open a hole into the building below me, and drop down. I speed through all of the rooms on this floor before going down to the next one. Let's see, empty, empty, empty, empty, empty, ohgodIdidn'twanttoseethat, empty, oh, look, guns, but no drugs, empty.

That pattern more or less repeats itself before I get to the ground floor. I know that searching an apartment building isn't really necessary, but I can't afford not to search everywhere. I go over to the next building, find nothing, go to the roof, and then repeat the process on the next building. And continue. Ugh

After what feels like hours, I've just barely found a few merchant safe houses. It's around this time that I find a mugging in process. At least, there's a man with a gun pulled on a woman, so I imagine some kind of crime is in progress. Not exactly unexpected, given my location.

Unfortunately, it's just ABB, so I can't even try to intimidate them to find the location of the Merchant bases. Still, I get to pull a Flash and knock them out in half a second and leave without so much a word. I hope that the victim doesn't panic or anything.

Just in case, after searching the next two buildings, I make sure to check back in the alley way. The victim seems to be in the process of running away, so I turn and continue. I feel a bit bad about just leaving her there, but I don't want to accidently have a confrontation with the heroes just yet.

I'm about ready to give up and call it a night a few blocks later, until I go in literally the last building on the block. The front room has two guards in it, both wearing the standard Merchant garb of trashy shirt and pants. What's not standard is the automatic weapons in both of their hands.

Jackpot.

In take off, not standing still long enough for them to notice me. Hopefuly they won't notice me or bother to report it. The next few rooms had more or less what I expected. Weapons cache, sleeping room, storage closet with a dude tripping out in the corner, all check. Then I get to one of the rooms on the second floor, and survey the area. Oh. Huh. Looks like the fanon about the merchant whores was correct.

I quickly back out of the room, and into a closet on the other side of the hall. Okay, logically, it's not like I didn't know that this was a possibility, and I was bound to run into this sooner or later. But I guess I wasn't expecting...that.

I'm kind of against prostitution on principle, though I guess that if a woman decides to do that, than it's her choice. Being forced into it though….I can't let this stand. I was planning on holding off my attack until I found all of the Merchants capes, but now...

Now I'm pissed.

I move out of the closet, and do a cursory sweep of the rest of the building. More guns, guns, yada yada. Then there's the man walking on the third floor through the halls that has pieces of garbage floating around his body. Mush. One of the three Merchant capes. At least this means that this night won't be a bust.

I make sure to quickly check the remaining space in the building, before going up to the rooftop like uasal. With nothing else to take care of, I make my way back through the building. I drop the guards by the stairwell, before moving into the other rooms, and taking any Merchant's there.

Mush is on the next floor down, so I quickly take him down before he can build up any garbage. Without it, he goes down just as easily as the others. It's almost laughable how easily that he goes down, as is the rest of the building. The guards on the first floor (who seem to be just now reacting to my trail) go down just as easily, and then I'm left with clean up.

I take the weapons of all the Merchants that I can find and throw them in the supply closets on each floor. Finding some rope, I use it to tie the hands of all the Merchants, and drag them to gathered locations on each floor. I don't try to be delicate. I don't really care if some druggies get carpet burn after all.

With all of that done, I check in on the unwilling prostitutes. Some seem to be off on drug trips, though a girl nearest to the door notices my entrance and starts crying as I drop out of subjective time. She looks up at me and whispers through her tears: "T-thank you."

...Huh. Time to set them free I guess.

…Wonder if the heroes have a protocol for this.

I phase her hands out of her bindings, only to get tackled by a flying hug as I turn to leave. Well, this is awkward. I slowly pry her off, turn and say: _"You're welcome."_ Really need to work on a better way of not creeping out everyone I talk to.

Before she can say anything else I quickly free all the other conscious people in the , I zoom(heh) back downstairs. Searching the pile of Merchants is an unpleasant ordeal, but it eventually yields me a phone. Being careful not to break the keypad, I call 911.

"911, what's your emergency?"

 _"_ _There's a merchant safehouse on the corner of…4rd State Street and 5th Ave. The Merchants inside have been detained, and Mush is one of them. Oh, there's also a bunch of women that they were using as prostitutes. Might want to send an ambulance or two for them."_

I can't actually see the person on the other side, but I imagine he's slowly blinking.

"Right...Um, I take it you're a new parahuman then?"

No shit, Sherlock. _"You could say that."_

"Right." Attention captain, we seem to be approaching pre-rehearsed speech territory. "If you'd stick around for a minute to give your statement to the PRT..."

Nope. Don't need this right now. _"I'm sorry, but I'm out past my bedtime."_

This seems to through him for a loop, as he stutters then manages to blurt out before I can hang up the phone, he blurts out, "Can I at least get your name?"

I pause. Sure, no reason not to. _"Zoom."_

I hang up before he can say anything else.


	14. 2:7

2.7

 **Brockton Bay**

 **April 9th,2011**

 **8:06 EST**

By my estimates, I searched about half of the city last night. After the debacle with Mush and his...operations, I decided to call it quits then, returning to my room. Scene cut, and I'm standing above the alley behind the library

At around the scheduled time, Lisa walks into the alley. This time, Brian and Alec (both out of costume) are walking out in the open with her. Guess they learned their lesson after last time. Alec has a backpack on, presumably for transporting his scepter, and Lisa is holding a suitcase that is in no way inconspicuous.

As they approach the midpoint of the alley, I step out of my hiding spot and zoom over until I'm about six feet away from them. Alec and Brian jump at my presence, though Lisa's grin is still plastered on her face. I don't feel like playing any games, so I cut straight to business.

 _"_ _Do you have the money?"_

Lisa nods once, and pulls a rather thick envelope out of her back pocket. She holds it out, and I take the invitation to grab it. She seems shocked by the use of superspeed in close quarters, though I'm busy counting it up at the moment. $49,800, as agreed upon, and an additional $500 from Alec. Annoyingly, the bills are all large, meaning I can't easily use them without looking super shady.

I put the money back inside and close the envelope, safely putting the money back inside. I then swap it for Regents scepter at super speed, which I was keeping nearby. I hand it off to him. He inspects it, before shrugging and putting in the bag. I raise my eyebrow. [I]"If there's nothing else?"[/I]

Brian seems to take this as his cue. "Listen, there's rules, and there's a reason people follow them. If you keep going around like you are, then you're going to bite off more than you can chew. Independents don't last long in our business, no matter how powerful they are."

That almost sounded vaguely threatening. _"I'll keep that in mind."_

And then I leave in a gust of wind.

Well, I probably should have seen this coming.

"You fucking cunt face! Show your self so I can ram my tank up your ASS!"

At first inspection, Skidmark isn't anything impressive. Well, his teeth are impressive, but for the wrong reasons. The truck/tank he's standing on would be impressive, if it weren't a complete eyesore.

The thing's just about wide enough to take up two lanes, and towers about 10 feet above the pavement, with a turret mounted on top. There's a machine gun mounted on either side, with a heavier one on the back. I'd question how the Merchants have such fire power, but there's more important things to take care of right now.

Namely, the fact that the thing's rolling down the street, and causing all the insurance men nightmares. I assume.

Right, marking targets. Squealer's got to be the one driving the thing, and there're probably at least 3 others inside, judging from the guns. Skidmark's standing on top, with some gang bangers flanking him, each one holding their own variety of rifle. At least there will be plenty of charges to convict them on.

Where the hell's the Protectorate? As soon as that thought passes through my mind, I see a blur moving down the street toward the tank. A quick slip into relative time shows that it's Velocity, and also confirms that he's slower than me.

Velocity wouldn't be here without backup, so I presume that there're others nearby. Right. The tank will be the biggest long term problem, so I'll need to tank care of it first. Ha! Get it?

...I'm so sorry.

A bit of fooling with my power earlier shows that I can run on walls, but it's super hard and I can't stop moving while doing it. Using this trick,, I take a shortcut over the lip of the roof, and run up to the side of the tank. Pushing it through time 2 years.. wait, what?

"I se"

Apparently this tank is either Scion proof, or isn't destroyed by other means in a few years. Zooming it forward in time reveals it's not going away with in the next decade, so I'm trying to push it back in time, when I get my second unpleasant surprise of the night.

"e him!"

...I'm not faster than a bullet.

The gun closest to me starts firing, and I see the bullets moving roughly like you'd see a jogger over taking you while walking, if the jogger was metal and was out for your blood.

I franticly back up, retreating behind cover. Right, I don't feel like seeing if I can dodge their bullets, so plan B is in motion, and so am I.

I scurry up the side of the tank before their guns can bear on me, and leap into action. I knock the gunner with three punches out first, before tagging Skidmark with a punch to the face, and then a follow up to the belly. The last guy's just barely raising his gun, right as I'm taking out his companion. A quick flurry of punches takes him out similarly to his friend, and then I'm looking down the hatch. Right, into the beast.

I slide down the ladder, and take in my surroundings. As predicted, there's Squealer and her crew men, plus a guy standing security. Who's currently raising a gun towards the ladder. I shoulder check him, reflexive dropping out of relative time and back to .

I call back up my speed, panicking, just as the others are hopping off their stations and drawing pistols. I don't think I have time to bring myself up to full speed, so I opt to use the sentry as a springboard to launch myself at Squealer.

She's in the beginning of looking up to see what the commotion was, so she receives a fist to the gut. I don't have time to waste on her though, so I'm reaching out with my elbow for the guy on my right.

I'm a bit worried about causing extreme harm, but I don't really value the life of some druggies over that of myself. I still try to pull my punches, keeping from pushing past the barrier that my elbow is rubbing against. I turn to the last guy, who has fumbled his pistol out of his holster. He receives a punch to the gut as I turn to survey the rest of the cabin. The guy I shoulder checked is getting up, along with the rear gunner that got knocked off his feet by his comrade.

A quick follow up to both of them solves that problem, leaving both on the floor. After a quick round of follow up punches, I breathe out, and drop out of relative time after checking the cabin. I slump over by the ladder. I'm not necessarily out of breath, but I feel drained.

The patter of feet on the roof brings me back to attention, and I speed to my feet, only for Velocity to peer down. "Everything okay down there?"

 _"_ _Yeah, everything's fine."_

Velocity seems to sag in relief. "Thank god. Zoom, right?"

 _"_ _Yeah, that's me."_

Velocity nods. "Don't worry, we'll get these guys booked up. In the meantime, if you could stick around, the Protectorate has some questions..."

Alarm bells! _"I'm sorry, but I'll have to politely decline."_

This whole time, I've cautiously been finding the right time stamp, and I've just managed to get a section of the side to disappear. I take the exit, and survey my surroundings.

There's a bunch of PRT vans, but what draws my attention is the figure in blue power armor atop his motorcycle. On his right a woman in military fatigues with a scarf around her face stands with a pistol holstered at her side. Armsmaster speaks up. "I'm afraid we'll have to insist."

Crap. Running from the authorities isn't the image that I want to portray at this moment, but I don't feel like surrendering to the Protectorate. I don't even bother replying, instead opting to take off at full speed.

I zig, and I zag, then round a corner and stop. After no one appears, I resolve to go in for the night. I've done enough for now.


End file.
